Modelling low Mach number stellar hydrodynamics with MAESTROeX

TL;DR

MAESTROeX is an open source low Mach number hydrodynamics code that enables long-term, high-resolution 3D simulations of stellar convection, overcoming limitations of traditional compressible codes.

Contribution

The paper introduces MAESTROeX, a novel low Mach number stellar hydrodynamics code optimized for long-duration, high-resolution simulations, including rotation effects and GPU acceleration.

Findings

Enables larger timesteps for stellar convection modeling.

Supports 3D high-resolution simulations over many rotational periods.

Incorporates rotation effects and GPU optimization.

Abstract

Modelling long-time convective flows in the interiors of stars is extremely challenging using conventional compressible hydrodynamics codes due to the acoustic timestep limitation. Many of these flows are in the low Mach number regime, which allows us to exploit the relationship between acoustic and advective time scales to develop a more computationally efficient approach. MAESTROeX is an open source low Mach number stellar hydrodynamics code that allows much larger timesteps to be taken, therefore enabling systems to be modelled for much longer periods of time. This is particularly important for the problem of convection in the cores of rotating massive stars prior to core collapse. To fully capture the dynamics, it is necessary to model these systems in three dimensions at high resolution over many rotational periods. We present an overview of MAESTROeX's current capabilities, describe ongoing work to incorporate the effects of rotation and discuss how we are optimising the code to run on GPUs.